No need for Polish-German border controls: interior minister

Poland’s interior minister has said that there is no need to bring back checks at the Polish-German border, despite the refugee crisis in Europe.

Mariusz Błaszczak. Photo: PAP/Bartłomiej Zborowski

“The reintroduction of checks at the Polish-German border, in my opinion, is not realistic, because there is no threat,” Mariusz Błaszczak told private broadcaster TVN24 on Tuesday.

However, Błaszczak said that Poland would “probably” introduce temporary border controls as it hosts a NATO summit and World Youth Day in July.

The latter event is expected to see hundreds of thousands of Roman Catholic pilgrims from around the world flocking to Poland.

Błaszczak on Monday took part in a meeting of EU ministers in Amsterdam, where the Dutch migration minister said European Union countries would ask the bloc's executive to prepare for the extension of temporary border controls within the Schengen passport-free zone for up to two years.

Błaszczak told TVN24 that the EU had to change its asylum policy if it wanted to maintain the Schengen system in its current form.

He cited the example of Australia, where the government in 2014 introduced temporary visas for refugees that do not grant them the right to permanently settle in the country.

Błaszczak added: "On the sidelines of the meeting in Amsterdam, we heard [talk of] of a return to a [quota] system of automatic relocation. In my opinion this would be a factor attracting further emigrants.”

Błaszczak said that Poland would veto any such official proposal in the EU. (pk)